Babunia

Antonia Chicanowicz, a Polish woman, was born in Stamstwiska, Vilna, Poland, a Russian Federation in 1894.  From 1795 to 1918 the area was under the Imperial Russian Rule and it had a strong grip on the Polish people.  They were not allowed to speak Polish on the streets and the stores could only post signs in the Russian language. 

 

Russia during this time was made up of Lithuanians, Jews and Pols.  All three were striving for cultural domination. The languages spoken were Yiddish, Polish, and Lithuanian.  The man she would eventually marry, John Kopcych, was also born in Vilna, Poland in 1892 and immigrated to America in 1910, at the age of 18, due to Russian rule and cultural unrest.

 

At the start of WWI in 1914, at the age of 20, she immigrated to America.  It was here that she married John Kopcych and purchased land on Hayward Street, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts and began a life of farming.  Their first son was named Josef after John’s father, and their son Anthony was named for John’s brother.  They had two daughters, Stephanie Stella and Mary Rose.

 

Anthony, known to me as Uncle Tony married my father’s sister, Bertha.

 

I came to know Antonia, a widow, at this time, now living next door to my parents. We called her Babunia, which is grandma in Russian. She made great cookies.  I remember sneaking one from her kitchen as a child.

 She loved her booze and did imbibe a little too much at times.  I remember she would take about a two-foot-long log from her wood pile that she kept for her wood stove and carry it out to the edge of the street and set it on end.  Somewhat portly she would firmly plant herself down with feet apart on the ground for balance and yell “hey” and she waved to the cars as they drove by.

It is believed that a wood stove caused her home to catch fire.  Her son, Tony, lived right next door to us.

 

In the middle of the night, my father's cousin, Eddie Marvel, who lived two houses down, woke my parents by banging on their bedroom window.  My mother was startled and screamed for the reflection from the fire made it look like our house was on fire. 

 

Babunia’s son, Tony, ran to his mother's home that was on fire. In an attempt to save her he broke a window to get to her. It was a valiant effort in futility for the house was totally engulfed and the flames much too hot.  Tony cut his hand on the windowpane and was bleeding heavily.  Knowing he was not able to save his mother, he walked over to our house leaving a trail of blood.  My mother wrapped his hand in a towel to stop the bleeding while sitting on the back porch steps, just as the fire trucks and police arrived. The house was a total loss.

Sadly, Antonia died in that fire in 1955. I was eleven years old as I looked out our living room window at all the activity. The night air was red with fire.  I watched as she was put into the back of an ambulance in a black body bag and taken away.

Only the foundation of her home remained where trees and weeds grew in and around the foundation and property for decades before the land was sold and a new home was built.

 

 

Robbing The Cradle

 I always heard the term "Robbing the Cradle", perhaps this is where it started.

     Thomas Tomson was born Oct 19, 1664 in Middleboro, MA. He was good friends with John Morton who also lived in Middleboro and they frequently visited each other. 

On one occasion when Thomas had turned 25, Morton advised that he should soon marry as he was of the proper age. Thomas is alleged to have replied, "I will marry that daughter of yours when she is old enough," pointing to John Morton's infant daughter Mary in her cradle. 

 John is not known to have objected, and when Thomas was 50, he made good his word, marrying Mary, aged 25. They married on December 13, 1715 in Middleboro, Massachusetts. They had seven children.

Thomas was a farmer and a glazier, and set diamond glass in lead, a feature of windows common in those days.

Thomas had an estate of 700 acers.  He was well off financially and was always charitable.  Rev. Cotton, the first minister of Halifax said, “Thomas Tomson was the wealthiest man in town but more to his honor was rich toward God.

 

 

Sleeping Beauty

 

A beautiful little blue eyed blonde healthy baby girl was born on January 15, 1934  to Lloyd and Myrtle Yarrinton. They named her Vivian Maxine and called her by her middle name, Maxine.

March 4, 1936

Two and half old Maxine diagnosed with sleeping sickness remains unresponsive. She never cries and it is believed she feels neither pleasure nor pain since the frantic day her parents brought her to the hospital. She suffered an Encephalitis attack five months ago last September.

Since September 24 1935, the doctors have studied Maxine’s case to no avail.  Her mother calls weekly prayful for some sign of recognition. Four year old Maxine remains comatose after 26 months despite normal growth and temperature.

Maxine Turned five with unseeing eyes from the birthday cake her father Lloyd offered her. The child in her mother’s arms celebrated her birthday by taking the liquid diet she has received since 1935, sleeps through her birthday.

Her parents fear she may never awaken. The parents of the rosy-cheeked blonde child hope that someday she may return home to join her two brothers and sisters.

According to her death certificate, Maxine passed away on September 12, 1934 at 9:02 pm at the age of 7 years, 7 months and 28 days. One month prior to her death she acquired Pulmonary Tuberculosis. That along with her six years of Encephalitis contributed to her death, which left her in the state of mental deficiency – Idiot. 

She is buried I Hope Cemetery, Carnesville, PA.

 

 

 

 

Colonel Josiah Edson

 

The Tory House in Central Bridgewater derives its name from its historical association with Loyalists, commonly referred to as Tories during the American Revolutionary War.

The house was built in 1698 by Jacob Leonard, (still standing today) a descendant of James Chilton who came over on the Mayflower, and whom we also descend from.  It was run as a hotel with many small rooms. Later, during the “Ante Bellum” days preceding the Civil War, this house was a station on the Underground Railroad helping runaway slaves escape to Canada.

Rev Allen, Minister of the First Parish Church, who under pressure for his Tory sympathizers, sold the property in the year leading up to the Revolutionary war, to our sixth great grandfather, Colonel Josiah Edson. He was a sympathizer and head of the militia.  Edson was born in Bridgewater on New Year’s Day, January 1, 1682.

 He was a Justice of the Peace, a Deacon of his church, a town Selectman from 1704 to 1734, a representative of the General Court in Boston for many years, and owned the largest and best kept farm in Bridgewater. Josiah was a highly respected and trusted man in town.

But, in 1774, Josiah’s great loyalty to the Crown and King George angered his fellow townsmen because he sided with the British, was forced to leave town and the Tory House was confiscated by the Continental Congress in 1775.

Josiah feeling threatened, left his farm, family and friends behind to seek the protection of the British Army in Boston and became identified as the enemy of Bridgewater. In the early part of 1776, he accompanied the British Army from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia and from there to Newport Long Island where he died on December 26, 1778.

Bridgewater for many years had a 4^th of July celebration with a pageant depicting the town’s history during the Revolution, with Colonel Josiah Edson featured not as a strong and courageous man who dared stand up for his minority and mistaken beliefs, but as the dirty villain, and a bronze plaque in front of the house labeled it as “The Tory House” for all to revile.